just came off the phone from my lfs, a great guy, a good freind. He doesnt have prazi prob because it isnt here in the uk???although he does has waterlife steradin ( ithink it was prenounced) which can deal with the fluke, he also has the test kit i need and he ordered me some coral gravel which he said would be a great factor in the fight against the hardness and ph. Im having dinner then gona take the gravel out the tank and do a 25% water change. I will get back to u later or tomorrow with the KH + GH results Lupin.
SALT AND RTC'S????????
- Thread starter bigcol
- Start date
I dont know as of yet Lupin but i will sure to let you know asap, this coral gravel could be the answer to all my prayers though as it (according to what ive been told by my lfs) will keep the hardness to a level so the ph will stabalize, am i right in saying that Lupin?? I could be wrong im just learning and listening to what people say atm, i must say im really happy ur helping me on this 1 Lupin a big 
to u and another thanks
to u and another thanksIt depends on the amount of crushed corals though but once the hardness levels have been maintained high enough (no lower than 4 degrees), then it should hold the pH steadily. You could use Tums which turns water into "liquid rock" but the process is very quick that most fish won't like the sudden increase of hardness levels assuming your hardness were incredibly low to begin with although I kept mostly plecos, guppies and goldfish where I dosed Tums before so it wasn't an issue for me since my water is already hard as it is. I did warn you before about it clouding the water because of high sucrose content so Caltrate may be a much better alternative. I even add Caltrate on my fish's dietary menu. Too bad...The calcium carbonate tablets aggravate my calcium deposit issues sometimes.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
This is an article which describes a salt mix that will raise KH and raise pH. It is actually very little "salt," with 1 teaspoon of marine salt mix and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, along with 1 tablespoon of epsom salt, per 20 gallons. I just finished using this in my pond because my pH was reading at 6, but was likely even lower, and my biological filter was failing (I was getting ammonia readings, despite water flow of 12x volume and a huge filter). I ended up using just 1 cup of the marine salt mix, 1 cup of baking soda, and 3 cups of epsom salt for 1,000 gallons. My pH is now at 7.2, KH is at 4, and ammonia is at 0. If you'll check out this article, it gives the recipe I just gave you, and it also discusses how to begin dosing this (obviously, not all at once, to avoid shocking fish, but 25% every few days). This really works. I was surprised at how well it worked. But it does, and it's fast and cheap.
This is an article which describes a salt mix that will raise KH and raise pH. It is actually very little "salt," with 1 teaspoon of marine salt mix and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, along with 1 tablespoon of epsom salt, per 20 gallons. I just finished using this in my pond because my pH was reading at 6, but was likely even lower, and my biological filter was failing (I was getting ammonia readings, despite water flow of 12x volume and a huge filter). I ended up using just 1 cup of the marine salt mix, 1 cup of baking soda, and 3 cups of epsom salt for 1,000 gallons. My pH is now at 7.2, KH is at 4, and ammonia is at 0. If you'll check out this article, it gives the recipe I just gave you, and it also discusses how to begin dosing this (obviously, not all at once, to avoid shocking fish, but 25% every few days). This really works. I was surprised at how well it worked. But it does, and it's fast and cheap.
Lupin;3508199; said:
I will have to have a look at the sack when he gets it to determine how much crushed coral is actually in there, i think the course of action now is to measure the hardness of the water 1st then go from there but will i still beable to treat the fluke whilst all this is going on or would it be a better idea to 1st take gravel out then measure hardness then treat after a small water change anwyay, 1nce the gravel is out. Tums sounds sort of dangerous for fish Lupin, liquid rock!!!! it must make the water really hard, thats the way it sounds anyway, i know nothing about all this stuff im basiclly learning from u guys as i go along. I thought aslong as the amm and nitrates were out of the picture then all was fine, how wrong was I.
justonemoretank;3508237; said:
Is that the same site u pointed me to earlier in the week??? on the thread mark made on my behalf?? I dont like experimenting with stuff to be honest i prefer to ask the experts or look it up myself and find a ready made product. Im starting to understand what you and Lupin is saying now though, well sort of but i will get there 1 day and heres me thinking i had the fish keeping hobby cracked when really all i was doing was creating my own problems by not checking out the way things were/should be properly. It just goes to show what impact a small amount of ignorance can have, my case is the perfect result of that. I will sure enough take time to look at that info u gave me though, who knows i might learn something
It's not an experiment... this is a tried-and-true method for solving this problem. WetWebMedia is a site full of people who have been doing this for a long time, and they're not just kids in their mom's basements (no offense to kids in their mom's basements), they're people who have been fishkeeping for a long time, that have degrees. The guy who wrote this article, Neale Monks, commonly writes for fishkeeping magazines. He's had two articles in them in the past three months. Other members of WWM write for print magazines, too. In addition, I'm telling you it worked for me... I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't know it worked. They do sell salt mixes for this purpose, but it's cheaper to make it at home.
Tums is not dangerous. It does however elevate the KH quickly but as I said, my water is already hard without Tums added so it is not a problem with me. My point is if you adjust the hardness gradually and carefully, then Tums can be used without any issues except for the cloudy effect.bigcol;3508304; said:
justonemoretank;3508335; said:
When i said i dont like experimenting i didnt mean that ur solution hadnt been tried and tested and proven to work matey, all i meant was if i get it wrong then things can go from bad to even worse, i will give it a go 1 day but at the min im going to go the other way around it and get something ready made if i can or like i said earlier the coral/sea shell gravel i discribed to Lupin earlier. Didnt intend to offend u dude, but i will say i will try to get this mixture right on a 2ft tank i have before i start doing it where my fish are afterall it doesnt look too hard to do. Thanks for helping btw, oh and im sort of like a kid in his moms basement, only im a 32yr old kid in my garage at my own home with the wife and kids on board
Lupin;3508379; said:
Im beginning to get the impression i dont just have to do the water hardness once Lupin, im guessing this will be an ongoing thing?? correct me if im wrong, if so i will ask my lfs about tums also for future reference and/or use. I dont mind a bit cloudiness of the water aslong as the fish are happy they could live in black water for me if it helps them live hapily ever after. Anyway im off to get this substrate out the tank now and do a 25%-30% water change when its all out, im sure it will stir stuff up in the water once i move it all, even though it does seem to be spotless gravel. bbs with a test, maybe sometime tonight.
Just thought i would add that my small rtc symptoms seem to be alot harsher than the large rtc, there is alot more redness in the mouth and gills, i cant wait untill tomorrow to finally get them treated once and for all.
I wasn't offended... I just wanted to emphasize that it's not experimental... Obviously, you're going to end up going with one solution or the other. If you check out my latest "Pond update" in the characins media lounge, you'll see how clear my water is. My fish are acting completely healthy and normal, and actually even better than before, now that I don't have a constant .5 ammonia level. I really think that this is the best way to raise pH and KH. I have to admit that I've never tried to do it any other way, but it was easy to measure, easy to mix, and easy to add, and is really simple to replace during water changes, because you add as much as you take out, and you can measure that easily by how much volume you remove. 25% of volume, add 25% of mix, etc. Also, it's cheap, as I said, and we're dealing with large volumes of water, so it's important to be economical.
